OEM Confusion - FCP Groton vs. My Mechanic

aewoodhouse · Post by **aewoodhouse** » 25 Nov 2012, 07:57

Hi,

Posting here to hopefully settle a matter which by now has gotten a bit ugly - with me in the middle unfortunately.

My mechanic allows me to supply my own parts in order to save money. For several years I have brought him a variety of parts from FCP - usually whatever it is they recommend for the bumpy streets of New York City.

In June of 2010 I had him do the front struts, strut mounts/spring seats, tie rod ends and control arms/ball joints with parts from FCP. Struts and strut mounts were Sachs/Boge and listed on their site as OEM.

Since then I have only put approximately 16,000 miles on the car of which 10,000 are highway. Starting in April of 2012, a very noticeable clunking began on the front end which was finally traced to failed spring seats. The mechanic instructs me to go to the dealership (at least a 3 hour round trip when all is said and done) and get "genuine Volvo spring seats."

Having neither time nor desire for the trip to the dealer, I ordered new ones from FCP - the same ones as before (though I didn't realize that they were.) I bring them to my mechanic and he gets irate that I didn't supply him with a genuine Volvo part. I tell him that they are OEM as per FCP. He yells that FCP is lying. I call FCP. They state emphatically that the mechanic is lying. That Sachs/Boge makes many OEM parts for Volvo and these are OEM. The mechanic refuses to install the Boge spring seats. I then realize that they are the same ones that failed prematurely and I call FCP to ask for an RMA on this basis. They say its not the fault of the part, that ALL volvo spring seats for this body style are simply weak. That they all fail early and often and that the mileage I got out of mine is normal. I have a hard time believing this.

Bottom line - FCP claims that there is NO difference between the Sachs/Boge spring seats and the ones stamped "Volvo" from the dealer for 2.5x the price.

Mechanic ultimately ordered the spring seats from Volvo himself. Still has my car two weeks later. I hope these spring seats last. Frankly I don't think that my relationship with this mechanic is going to. Also, I might start ordering from IPD for any front end repair in the future.

If someone could please shed some light on this I would be most grateful. This is bordering on emotionally draining at this point and I do not want to have to get this $300 repair done yet again in another 15k miles.

Thanks so much,

Alex

Post by **rmmagow** » 25 Nov 2012, 08:28

Sorry to hear of your dilema. The your mechanic may be partially right. The original spring seats for your year Volvo really are garbage, oem or not. IPD (an even FCP I think) offer a heavy duty version to replace the poor original types. The much approved method is to order spring seats for a Volvo XC90, much stronger and fit the V70/S70's fine.
I would try to smooth things over with your nechanic especially if he's good. Rare to find one who doesn't mind you bringing your own parts. In the future, I recommend you contact this group for advice about replacement parts, but the spring seats really are an area well covered here, no URO, no original OEM just. The XC90 seems the way to go.

Post by **Ben850** » 25 Nov 2012, 08:31

Well Alex,
It sounds like FCP is mostly correct. Most people now replace the original spring seats with either XC90 seats, Or the IPD heavy duty option. That would be the best suggestion.

Edit: I was typing while the above post was entered. We are on the same page.

aewoodhouse · Post by **aewoodhouse** » 25 Nov 2012, 10:12

Lesson learned. I'll have to cover my bases more thoroughly next time for sure. The standard Volvo spring seats are installed. Thanks so much for the feedback. Even if I don't have the best option installed, I have a better understanding of the situation and a clearer head about the whole thing. Thanks again!

Post by **precopster** » 27 Nov 2012, 01:18

Perhaps if your mechanic had clarified what he meant by OEM vs aftermarket Boge, but many good mechanics simply want OEM no matter what and for good reason. With so many changes in the parts supplied by aftermarket companies such as FCP it's difficult to know what we are actually getting.

There have been numerous counterfeiting instances of generic branded parts that it's difficult to know for certain what is in a generic box. Timing kits are a good example. When it comes to the engine I wouldn't risk having 10,20 or 24 smashed valves just to save $25 or $30. If you can order an OEM timing kit for a '99-2007 car in a sealed OEM box you stand a far lower chance of it being a copy.

This thread may help clear up some confusion about OEM manufacturers vs true OEM blue box: https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=38262

I just replaced the spring seats in my 2000 V70 yesterday with genuine XC90 number 30683637. I also had on hand a Boge spring seat from FCP (which is supposedly the same) and I can say that they are a different casting internally, though you would be hard pressed to pick the differences without seeing both side by side. The Boges had Germany cast into the bottoms and the blue box XC90 said Made in Romania on the label.

I ordered the XC90 units from Volvo Wholesale Parts (Volvo Dallas) about 6 months ago.
BTW Volvo now ONLY sell the latest number (30683637) for ANY 850, V70, S70, S60 & XC90 up to 2007 and they ARE different from the Boges from FCP, which are a copy of the NON superceded product, despite the empahatic claims.

aewoodhouse · Post by **aewoodhouse** » 27 Nov 2012, 12:06

Abundant thanks precopster. What a relief to finally pick my car up this morning and see that it was indeed part number 30683637 that the mechanic had installed. Very helpful to have the specific part number in hand. So all is well that ends well but thanks again for the clarity - especially regarding the difference between the the Boge and the superceded Volvo seats. Thank god Volvo ultimately saw fit to use only the 30683637. Cheers!

brad850 · Post by **brad850** » 18 Sep 2014, 10:47

Bumping this and asking some more. I got an estimate for CV axles left and right and control arms left and right, and the part prices are pretty much double the FCP price. Before I start a discussion with the shop is there any reason under the stars there would be this kind of markup on parts. I mean I cannot find any of these parts that I could buy that would cost as much as the shop is saying.